and claimed by the Cardinals.“It’s going to be great to se

FRISCO Devin White Jersey , Texas (AP) — Trysten Hill didn’t have a happy ending at Central Florida, where the defensive tackle appeared to fall out of favor with the coaching staff after Scott Frost left for Nebraska.The Dallas Cowboys showed little concern for that history while drafting an interior defensive lineman before the third round for the first time in almost 30 years. After the two biggest moves of the offseason involved their pass rush, the Cowboys kept the focus on the defensive front with their first pick of the draft, taking Hill 58th overall in the second round Friday night.Dallas, which didn’t have a first-round pick because of a trade last season for receiver Amari Cooper, took Penn State offensive lineman Connor McGovern with the 90th overall pick in the third round. Hill and McGovern skipped their senior seasons to enter the draft.The 308-pound Hill wasn’t happy with his playing time when the Golden Knights lost to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl, ending a 25-game winning streak. He started just once in 12 games after starting all 13 games in both seasons under Frost.But Hill and Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli hit it off during the process leading to the draft, including a meeting that Hill remembered the night before his NFL combine workout in February.“He wants the best out of me and I want to give him everything I got,” Hill said. “Him taking hold of me in this whole process and me being able to call him and chat with him and just hear his voice was huge in this whole ordeal.”Coach Jason Garrett said the Cowboys spent time with Frost and the staff that was with Hill his first two years. Garrett said they “endorsed him highly, both as a player and as a person.”That was enough for Dallas to take a defensive tackle before the third round for the first time since drafting Russell Maryland first overall in 1991.“We got very comfortable with that question because we had the same question everybody else had,” Garrett said. “He played well in ’17 and then is not a starter in ’18. What’s going on there? He’s still a young guy. He’s still maturing. The stuff that we think is most important. He loves ‘ball. He wants to work at it. He wants to be great. He wants to be part of something special. We feel like he has all those qualities.”Despite a strained relationship with the coaching staff, Hill was productive in his final season with UCF, recording career highs with 36 tackles, three sacks and 10 1/2 tackles for loss. He had six tackles L.J. Collier Jersey , three for loss and two sacks in a 56-41 win over Memphis in the American Athletic Conference championship game.“I think I’m a dominant, tenacious player, and everything’s a competition,” Hill said. “That’s how I was raised. That’s what I’m going to do day in and day out. I’m excited to get to work because I know that’s how Marinelli preaches.”Marinelli says he plans to use Hill in the same position as Maliek Collins, a three-year starter going into the final year of his rookie contract.Defensive line was the top choice in the draft for the Cowboys after they made star pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence the highest-paid player in franchise history with a $105 million, five-year contract and acquired defensive end Robert Quinn from Miami in a trade.McGovern brings the versatility the Cowboys covet with offensive linemen. He played guard as a freshman with the Nittany Lions, center as a sophomore and mostly guard his final season in 2018.“To me he was a classic case of us doing our best to look up at the board and say, ‘Who’s the best player up there?'” Garrett said. “He for us was by far the best player at that time. Exactly what we want in our offensive linemen. He’s smart, he’s tough, he loves to play the game.”The Cowboys go into Saturday with four picks in the final four rounds: two in the fourth and one each in the fifth and seventh rounds. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals might just be the antidote for what’s ailing the Los Angeles Rams.The Rams (11-3) are the NFL West champions again, and have the NFC’s second-best record behind New Orleans (12-2). But Los Angeles has lost two in a row, 15-6 at Chicago and, last week Johnathan Abram Jersey , 30-23 to Philadelphia.So the Cardinals (3-11), 1-6 at home and at the bottom of the NFL standings under first-year coach Steve Wilks, would seem a welcome opponent when the teams square off Sunday in Arizona’s final home game of its difficult season.Article continues below ...Of course, Rams coach Sean McVay would never say that even if he thought it was true.“That’s certainly not our attitude,” he said. “Our attitude is that we have a lot of respect for this football team and for coach Wilks, and we’ve got to be ready to go. There’s a lot of great players on both sides – proven, high-caliber players, some Hall of Fame players, perennial Pro Bowl players. We’ve got to be ready to go.”The Cardinals were gashed for a season-worst 215 yards on the ground in their 40-14 blowout loss at Atlanta last week. The could mean a big day for Todd Gurley, if he’s healthy. McVay indicated on Wednesday he expected his prolific running back to play after being limited by knee inflammation this week.“We expect that if he progresses the way that we anticipate, that he’ll be ready to go,” McVay said.Gurley didn’t have a big day statistically but ran for three touchdowns in Los Angeles’ 34-0 home rout of Arizona in Week 2.Jared Goff threw for 354 yards in that game, but is going through a rough stretch. In the last three games, he’s thrown for one touchdown and been intercepted six times.“I think each game is independent of each other Maxx Crosby Jersey ,” he said. “I don’t think there’s one singular thing. Look at last game, made a couple dumb plays that hurt us and you can’t do that.”The Rams are two-touchdown favorites. Here are some things to consider about the game:FITZGERALD’S FINALEThis might be Larry Fitzgerald’s final home game of his spectacular 15-year NFL career. Then again, it might not.Fitzgerald, as is his custom, was not at all forthcoming on the subject of his retirement when the subject was broachedThursday.“If I decide to retire, I’ll let you guys know, seriously,” he said. “So I don’t know why we keep asking these questions. You know me. I’ve been answering for the last three years. Nothing’s going to change.”In other words, when he decides, he’ll let everyone know.Fitzgerald has caught a pass in 226 consecutive games and recently passed Jerry Rice’s record for most catches with one team.With a TD catch on Sunday, he’d have 19 in his career against the Rams. Only Rice has more against a single team, 25 against Atlanta and 20 against the Rams.GOFF’S CONFIDENCEGoff said he thought that toward the end of the Philadelphia game, the Rams got back to being themselves on offense.“I felt like we moved the ball really well and we were able to build off some things there and able to kind of take what the defense was giving us,” he said. “I felt like I learned a lot in the last game and was able to grow.”Goff said it’s not that defenses are figuring them out.“I think it always comes back to us Foster Moreau Jersey , just doing what we do — executing,” he said. “Defenses are going to present different looks every game and that’s no excuse. It happens every game. It’s happened every game we’ve played this year. So, it just comes down to us executing and being our best and just really focusing on the details.”RAM BACKSWith Gurley’s status a bit shaky, the Rams signed veteran running back C.J. Anderson this week.Even if Gurley plays, there could be some action for Anderson.“Could really see him playing a role this week,” McVay said, “very sharp, cerebral player. He’s played in some systems very similar in terms of the verbiage, some of the things we try to emphasize specific to the running game and in protection.”PHAROH SWITCHReturn specialist and wide receiver Pharoh Cooper went from a Super Bowl contender to a leading candidate for the No. 1 draft pick this week when he was waived by Los Angeles and claimed by the Cardinals.“It’s going to be great to see all those guys,” he said of facing the Rams so soon. “I’ve built so many relationships with them.That’s still family over there, but at the end of the day I play for the Cardinals now.”HOLIDAY SACKSArizona defensive end Chandler Jones is donating $20,000 for every sack he gets in the final two games — against the Rams and Seattle — to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He has 5 1-2 career sacks against Los Angeles and 8 1-2 against the Seahawks.